Stricken pilot dies after crash at Lauderdale Executive Airport

A small plane went into a fence at 5901 NW 24 Avenue at Executive airport in… (Mike Stocker, Sun Sentinel )

January 13, 2012|By Juan Ortega, Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE — A pilot died after suffering a heart attack inside his single-engine plane at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport on Friday, a friend said.

Louis Grabiec, 64, of Fort Lauderdale, had fueled up the plane at the airport and was taxiing it back to a small hangar when he suffered the medical emergency, said the friend, Terry Mase, 47, also of Fort Lauderdale. The plane came to rest after crashing into a fence.

"He still found the ability to steer the plane away from everyone and put it against the fence," Mase said.

The man, the only occupant of the plane, was taken to Holy Cross Hospital because of his medical condition, and not because of any injuries, said Matt Little, a Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue spokesman.

Grabiec later died, the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office said. An autopsy will be conducted Saturday to determine his cause of death.